Wearing out my T@B on Vancouver Island

Mellow_Yellow

So, just as I had plans to drive across BC to Jasper, Alberta, things went a little sideways up here with forest fires and the plague. So I decided to stay on Vancouver Island for my longest trip yet: 8 consecutive days!
I went to my usual haunts and then decided to visit Morton Lake, NW of Campbell River. It required 10 miles of well traveled dirt road. Nothing too radical as you can see from the photo below, but still, I went slowly and carefully as it was the first time taking my T@B on a significant dirt road. And to be honest, I've been on worse "paved" roads! Still it is a timely reminder to plan on replacing the 8-year old tires on the T@B, which is on my "to do" list before "winter camping" season begins!

I had previously visited Morton Lake when I was a kid (1970's) and this is the gem that awaited me (Isabella awning shown below). 

It was an idyllic spot with a beautiful little ecosystem of birds, tree frogs, and dragonflies that kept the mosquito population down to near nil. I felt sad to leave, but there was a big storm coming in and I wanted to be off the dirt road and settled in somewhere to wait it out. The storm was intense but thankfully there was only 1 really good thunderbolt. It lasted over 32 hours and dropped 3-4 inches of rain. Then the next morning, I packed up and headed home to unload the trailer and get it cleaned up and ready for the next adventure!

Homebodyatheart

@Mellow_Yellow thanks for sharing your adventures! I’d say you have my sympathies, being stuck on the island, wearing out your adorable yellow Tab and all but I’d be lying!  You live in a spectacular part of our world and good for you for exploring longer! My longest trips for many reasons have been five nights, and I hope to camp for longer stretches next season when I’m fully retired. Thanks again for sharing, and I look forward to your next adventures! 

Sharon_is_SAM

@Mellow_Yellow - you don’t ever need to leave the island as you have everything you need for beautiful camping right in your backyard!  

Mellow_Yellow

Thanks @Homebodyatheart and @Sharon_is_SAM! One thing I am looking to improve is how to start off each trip with a fully charged battery. It is still too easy to run the LifePo4 battery down - this time I think it was leaving the Alde on instead of just firing it up when I needed it. I'll check on other threads about upgrading the converter. Solar is only an option here for 6 months of the year and I almost exclusively boondock through the winter. I'll check for existing threads on this topic...

Mellow_Yellow

Also: I wore out the tires, the rubber surge brake actuator cuff, and the propane valve on the fridge. And experienced the demise of my new lithium battery. Too bad, so sad!
Just one year ago, I sat in my “new to me” T@B in my driveway, wondering what I had gotten myself into. This is what I got myself into!
tonight, I am camping with a new AGM battery, new tires and a temporarily disabled (propane) fridge. So happy!!!

peterjoce400

Our year has been confined to Vancouver Island as well this year 2021.  Was a challenge at times getting sites without reservations (experienced that at both private and provincial parks). Our big wear out has been hot brakes, green light on Maxx Air 7500 but all adds to the experience.  Covered the whole island from Port Hardy to Sooke and over to Port Alberni.  

rfuss928

Mellow_Yellow
Wore out the tires!!??  These light weight trailers never wear out tires.  I have only replaced mine due to age, not wear.  What do you think cause such extreme wear?

Mellow_Yellow

@rfuss928 - The treads were down to near nothing. the build date of my T@B is Aug 2013. 8 years sounds like a good long time for a pair of tires. But I have no idea how much mileage the previous owner put on them in the first 7 years of its life. In the past 10 months, I’ve likely put on 3000 miles. Just a rough guess though. 

SusanD

@Mellow_Yellow- I am so jealous!  I just put my T@b to bed for the winter, or until an escape from the mainland can be arranged.  I'll be fine once the snow hits, it's just the November doldrums hitting hard.  

Marceline

Mellow_Yellow said:

@rfuss928 - The treads were down to near nothing. the build date of my T@B is Aug 2013. 8 years sounds like a good long time for a pair of tires. But I have no idea how much mileage the previous owner put on them in the first 7 years of its life. In the past 10 months, I’ve likely put on 3000 miles. Just a rough guess though. 

When I bought my 2013 T@B in 2017 the first thing I did was change the tires. I literally picked the trailer up from the seller and took it to a tire shop and got new tires and had the bearings repacked. Your tires were MUCH older when you bought your trailer. You shouldn’t skimp on taking care of tires and bearings. I’m mostly posting this for the benefit of anyone who’s thinking about buying a used trailer. Be sure to look at the date on the tires. And the tread. And the condition of the sidewalls. If they’re more than a couple of years old and you don’t know the mileage I’d consider getting a new pair right away. 

Denny16

Our TaB was only 18 months old when we got it, previous owner put 3,500+ mikes on it towing it from one end of California to the other, and into PNW.   Whilst the tires looked good, they had some wear (non BoonDock tires/axle taken over dirt roads in Calif. desert for Burning Man), we had the axle bearings  and brakes checked, cleaned and repacked to be on the safe side, since the trailer had not been previously serviced.  

Six months later we had the axle/tires changed out to a BoonDock setup.

So yes, you need to check tires regularly and bearings serviced as required, depending on its use.
 Cheers 

rfuss928

I totally agree with replacing old tires.  I follow the general guideline of six years tire life.  My relatively high mileage 12 year old T@B is ready for its third set tires yet once again the tread is hardly worn.  This seems consistent with most folks experience with light weight trailers in general.  The tread wear Mellow_Yellow experienced seems quite unusual. 

Denny16

Not if the trailer had been traveling on Canadian back roads…
cheers